Documents reveal details in family slayings

Posted: Thursday, September 06, 2001

The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The suspect in the slayings of his estranged wife and her two children reportedly has told police he used the same handgun to kill his father in Arlington last year that he used to his family in Mansfield last week.

According to court documents obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Terry Lee Hankins also said he struck his half-sister several times in the head with a jack stand, killing her in Arlington last year.

Hankins has been arraigned and charged with capital murder in the deaths of his wife, Tammy Hankins, 34, and two of her children, Kevin Galley, 12, and Ashley Mason, 11. Their bodies were found Aug. 29 in Tammy Hankins' mobile home in Mansfield.

Police obtained arrest warrants Tuesday, accusing the man of killing his father, Earnie Lee Hankins, 55, and his half-sister, Pearl "Sissy" Sevenstar, 20. Police have said they believe bodies found Friday in Arlington are those of the father and half sister.

During an interview with the Star-Telegram, Hankins said he killed the five victims while intoxicated. He said earlier he expected to be given the death penalty.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, however, has not positively identified those decomposed remains. The two are believed to have been killed last October, according to the warrants.

Terry Lee Hankins remained in the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth on Thursday, with bail set at $1 million. He was arrested Aug. 30 after a five-hour standoff at a west Arlington apartment.

Officer Kirk Grable, a Mansfield police spokesman, declined to comment on whether Hankins used the same gun to kill his father, his wife and two of her children. Mansfield police recovered that gun, Arlington police Sgt. Mark Simpson said, but ballistics testing is incomplete.

According to the Arlington warrants, Hankins told police he killed his half sister around Oct. 1, about a week before he has said he killed his father.

"He said he killed his dad a couple of days before his dad's birthday, and his dad's birthday is Oct. 10," Simpson said.

Hankins told police that he and his father were arguing when he shot him in the face with a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun, the warrant said.

"It appears that Earnie Hankins was seated in the recliner chair when he was shot, and Terry Hankins was standing up when he shot Earnie Hankins," the warrant said.

The body, still clad in blue work clothes, was found Friday in a recliner inside his Arlington mobile home, the warrant said.

Hankins told police in an interview that he removed the credit cards from his father's wallet after killing him and used them to purchase food and car parts, the warrant said. He also pawned one of his father's handguns and had a friend pawn a rifle and a shotgun. Hankins also forged several of his father's business checks to purchase auto parts, the warrant said.

Hankins said he returned to his father's home several days later and used air fresheners to try to mask the odor, the warrant said.

Sevenstar's body was found in a large, black plastic storage container in a car abandoned at an Arlington auto salvage yard once owned by Hankins' father and where Hankins had worked, a warrant said.

A memorial service for Tammy Hankins, Galley and Mason is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church in Mansfield.